The Wood of the Lost
by Yombatable
Summary: England's gone and got himself kidnapped by faeries, and Scotland is tasked with finding his sorry arse. (What are serious summaries?) ScotEng and hinted Ireland/Northern Ireland but honestly I have no idea what their ship name would be... Irelandcest maybe? IDK man.


**So originally this was a drabble request on 'It's in the Brows' (By Mac, hey buddy ;D) but then I got carried away and it's waaaayy too long for that now, so I'ma just post it as a separate piece. It's still set in the same universe, it's just floating around outside the drabble fic. Imagine it's set somewhere around chapter 16, which I think is what it's on as of posting this.**

 **Idk what else to say so...**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

The forest was beautiful.

He wasn't sure how he knew the forest was beautiful, but the way the trees swayed against the breeze, and the ground crinkled under his feet had him captivated. It was a while before he noticed his hands were being held, and only because he reached out to try to catch a falling leaf.

He looked to his side, at the brunette on his right and the two red-heads on his left, one a man, one a woman, they looked familiar somehow, though he couldn't for the life of him place where he'd seen them before. He made a short questioning note from the back of his throat, "Who are you?"

The red-headed woman seemed to think about that for a moment before replying, "I don't know. Who're you?"

He thought for a moment too, before realizing, as the woman had, that he didn't know either, "I'm not sure."

The brunette on his other side huffed out a breath in annoyance, "I don't know."

The red-headed man nodded, "Nor me."

The red-headed woman frowned, "Shall we decide names then, so we know what to call each other."

The red-headed man nodded, "Okay, what should mine be?"

"I like Seamus," said the red-headed woman.

"Alright, Seamus it is," Seamus nodded, "You can be Siobhan."

Siobhan smiled, "Okay," and then turned to the other two, "How about you two?"

"How about Alistair, for you," the brunette said, "and Dylan for me."

Alistair nodded, "Okay. I like Alistair."

The four of them lapsed into silence after that, unsure of anything to say, until Siobhan broke the silence, "You don't suppose we had anywhere to be going?"

"I suppose we did," Dylan replied, "Shall we try to get there?"

"How though?" Seamus asked, "We don't know where that is?"

"We could just walk and hope we get there," Alistair suggested, "But don't let go of our hands. I have a feeling we shouldn't let go."

Siobhan laughed, "You just want me to keep holding your clammy hand."

Alistair snorted, "Not at all, with the glare lover boy beside you just sent me, I wouldn't even try it."

Seamus went a rather bright shade of red at having himself ousted, "I didn't-"

Siobhan chuckled, smiling at him, "It's okay sweetie, I wouldn't mind holding your hand." Seamus' face turned even redder. She laughed, "You're cute."

Dylan laughed too, snorting out an embarrassing noise, "Looks like you're getting luck, eh Seamus?"

Seamus glared at him, "Let's just get going."

* * *

 _Scotland had been unable to find England that morning. He'd looked in his study, the basement, outside in the garden. He'd asked the faeries, they'd said they'd seen nothing of him since the night before, although from the way they giggled he suspected they knew exactly where England was and were just refusing to tell him. Portugal had been of little help and Wales and North even less._

 _"You're the one who practically lives with him these days."_

 _"I know that, but living in the same house doesn't help when someone just up and disappears!"_

 _"Maybe he finally got sick of you."_

 _"I'm serious North."_

 _"Nah, I suppose you're right, he'd kick you out of he was-"_

 _"North!"_

 _She sighed, "Alright, you're worried, but he's only been gone a morning, if he's not back by the evening that's when you should start to worry, he's a big boy, he can take care of himself -for the most part..."_

 _Scotland bit his lip, frowning, "Okay, I get it, he's probably fine, it's just that it hasn't been too long since he..."_

 _"I know. But trust me, he knows his limits, he hasn't been showing the signs."_

 _ **Scotland!**_

 _Scotland looked up at his surroundings in search of whatever has spoken, squinting his eyes in the hopes of catching a glimpse of something. Whatever had spoken was muffled, as if they were speaking from behind a window, but when he checked them they were devoid of anyone calling for him._

 _ **Scotland, over here, on the mantelpiece!**_

 _He turned his head to where the voice had said, frowning as he saw something even he thought was peculiar._

 _"England?"_

 _Inside one of the framed pictures on the mantle, specifically one of the five siblings, was England, but moving, he'd squirmed his way out from where he was usually stood between Scotland and Wales and was standing instead against the glass, a deep frown on his face._

 _ **Yes, you daft sod, get over here, we don't have long.**_

 _Scotland muttered something to North about having to go and hung up the phone as he hurried over to the picture, picking it up of the side and causing England to lose his balance and fall over ungracefully._

 _ **Oi! Watch it!**_

 _"Sorry."_

 _Scotland sat down and England rolled his eyes._

 _ **It's fine. Now, I have to make this quick, so listen carefully.**_

 _Scotland nodded._

 _ **The Fae have me trapped in their realm. I don't know why, I just know I can't escape from where I currently am.**_

 _"Why not?"_

 _ **From what I can tell, the forest that surrounds me is magical. It seems to be that once you enter you forget everything. If I enter that forest I doubt I'll leave.**_

 _"How do you suggest I help you?"_

 _ **I don't know, talk to the queen, she'll either be behind this or know how to stop it.**_

 _Scotland nodded with a heavy sigh, "Alright, are you sure you'll be fine? How long have you been there?"_

 ** _A little over a week._**

 _Scotland put his head in his hands, "Shit,"_

 _ **How bad is my displacement?**_

 _"Hard to say," Scotland replied, fingering the picture frame tenderly, "Although it would make sense for it to be about an hour-to-day ratio."_

 _England grimaced, his body slumping._

 _ **Fantastic.**_

 _Then he groaned._

 _ **This is exhausting, I'm going to have to let you go. Just find me soon, okay?**_

 _"Okay, I'll try not to leave you there too long."_

 _England smiled._

 _ **Goodbye for now, Scotland.**_

 _And then he blinked and the picture was back to normal._

* * *

They didn't speak after that for a while, content to just keep walking in comfortable silence.

The woods around them seemed to be in a state of constant motion, every step they took seemed to spin the around and send them in the opposite direction. All this, of course, without moving an inch, or spinning them anywhere. Alistair quickly decided he disliked this forest.

As they walked a definite sense of _wrongness_ settled over him, and it struck him that four definitely _did not_ seem like enough. There should be someone else here, someone was missing. Someone else should be there... Someone else... Someone...

But who?

A useless question he thought, because he didn't even know who he was, let alone who this missing person could be. Still, somewhere in his gut he felt an acute sense that he needed to find this person, whoever they were.

Perhaps that was why they were here.

"I think I know why we're here."

His companions looked up at him questioningly.

"Someone is missing."

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked, his head tilting minutely to the side.

"There are four of us. There should be five."

"What makes you so sure?" Siobhan questioned after a short moment.

"I don't know, I just am."

"So you think we're here to find this other person?" Seamus peered around Siobhan in order to see Alistair's face, his own holding a slightly confused frown.

Alistair nodded, "I think that's exactly why we're here."

He frowned.

"What's on your mind?"

"I can't remember him, but I feel like I should."

"Ah!" Siobhan exclaimed excitedly, "So they're a 'he'! We're getting somewhere!"

Alistair breathed out a chuckle, "A gender doesn't really help that much."

She shook her head, "It cuts out like half the population of the world, I'd say it helped an awful lot."

Alistair frowned in concentration, "He's-" he could almost see a figure in his mind's eye, so close to what he needed, so close to an answer, but it slipped away as quickly as it had come, "He's- I don't know. He's gone."

 **-** ** _listen carefully-_**

He found himself jerking a little in surprise when the voice in his head sounded out, muffled and strange, as if it were behind a window, but also underwater.

 **-** ** _trapped-_**

He stood stick still as the words played in his head, grinding their progress to a halt, but unable to concentrate on anything but the phantom voice playing snippets of a conversation in his head.

 **-** ** _can't escape-_**

He sucked in a long breath as he realized that this was most likely the person they were searching for, and whether it was him, or his own brain trying to send him a message, he needed to listen.

 **-** ** _you forget everything -_**

Yes, he knew that, he didn't know anything, he didn't remember anything, he didn't-

 ** _-find me soon-_**

Alistair was surprised when he felt a soft hand touch his face, and he was even more surprised to find that Siobhan was wiping tears from his face. "What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know." He replied honestly.

"You're crying, just try to tell us," Dylan prompted.

"A voice, it sounded like a conversation I've had before... with the- the person we need to find." He frowned in concentration, "He said we were trapped- or he was trapped and he can't escape. He said something about forgetting everything."

"Anything else?"

"He wanted us to find him."

* * *

 _"Remind me again why I had to bring Gwlanog?" Wales asked sceptically, glancing briefly between Scotland in front of him and the huge dragon plodding happily along behind them._

 _The woods they were walking through fluttered with life, large and small faeries flitting up to watch them go past. The trees were thick, matted with vines full of colourful flowers, leading a single path through to their destination, the royal throne room, where Scotland knew from experience the queen of the faeries would be._

 _"If all else fails then I feel like having a dragon might be to our advantage," Scotland shrugged in reply, swatting at a particularly curious pixie, "We'll threaten to burn down the palace or something."_

 _"You don't think walking into the throne room with a fuck-off great dragon is going to hurt matters?" North asked._

 _"That's why Wales is going to wait outside with her until I call for them."_

 _"And if the dragon plan fails?" Ireland added, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Then we run like shit and come up with a new plan."_

 _"Fair enough."_

 _They didn't speak much until they reached the throne room, Wales giving Scotland a pat on the back as he pushed open the doors._

 _"Alistair, my pet, it's been too long!"_

 _The queen stood from her chair, the one at her side notably absent of her husband, and opened her arms, drifting hazily toward the three nations. The queen was tall, thin, with skin the colour of tree bark and hair like the weeping willow, her dress sewn of tree's heartstrings touched the floor, drifting lazily behind her whenever she moved, and her eyes, the exact colour of a white lily, seemed to see right through you whenever she looked at you._

 _Even still, Scotland was less than intimidated by her._

 _"I'm not here for pleasantries, where is Arthur?"_

 _The queen's face fell, her arms joining her smile, and she tilted her head, "Why, I don't know what you mean?"_

 _Scotland snorted, "You do. Arthur is in your realm, you know where he is. Tell me."_

 _The queen pursed his lips, "You know, you used to be so much more polite." She drifted over to Northern Ireland petting her head lightly, "You were my favourite, little Siobhan. I always awaited a girl, ever since your mother-"_

 _A hand grabbed the queen's wrist, removing it none too gently from North's hair, "Hands off."_

 _North looked at her brother strangely, making him look sheepish and release the queen's hand. Still, that didn't stop her from regarding him for a moment longer._

 _The queen tutted, "So sensitive Seamus," and then she giggled, "Oh, wasn't that fun to say?"_

 _"Back to Arthur, if you don't mind?" Scotland asked, and though it was phrased like a question, it really didn't leave any room for argument._

 _The queen rolled her eyes, wafting back toward her throne and gesturing for the three to follow, "Really, you're no fun these days, my sweet," she said, her tone that of someone who is utterly bored with the situation at hand, "Unfortunately for you, your lover is out of my hands."_

 _"What does that mean?"_

 _She sighed, seating herself back in her throne, "It means that he has found himself out of my jurisdiction as it were."_

 _"So you're saying you can't help us?"_

 _She shrugged, "I'm truly sorry, my darling, but the forest he's found himself in is one that skews time, and thought, and sanity. It is not something within my control."_

 _"Then how can we help him?"_

 _She seemed to think on that for a moment, her eyes drifting over the three of them, before settling on the door, "Your dragon may be of some help," she said finally, "We can ride her to the forest, I will take you to its edge, but I will go no further, we will talk more once we're there."_

 _She stood and drifted past them to the door._

 _"So much for burning down the throne room."_

 _"Shut up."_

* * *

 _Look, some lonely travellers have lost their way!_

 _Oh, however will they find what they're looking for on their own?_

 _Shall we help them, sisters mine?_

 _Ah, it seems they won't make it all alone._

The four companions looked up at the canopy, where four small women appeared to be sitting. They were short, vaguely ethereal, glowing a shade of green which almost perfectly blended them into the trees behind them. Together they giggled, drifting down from the canopy to rest in front of them.

 _Hello, hello, we welcome you, you lost souls!_

 _And we wish to help you on your way!_

 _But I worry only one of us will help you._

 _The others? You should not heed a word they say._

The four companions stared on at the four women as they drifted around them, settling in a line in front of them on their knees as the wind seemed to rustle in a ghostly tune and they swayed gently along with it.

 _One of us is lying._

 _One of us deceives._

 _One of us' a trickster._

 _Only one will help you leave._

None of the four replied, watching as the four women each lifted their hands, leaves gently drifting from below them to above their heads, forming into numbers, 1, 2, 3 and 4.

 _You may ask us one question each._

 _To all of our number._

 _But wary be of out answers._

 _We will lead you asunder._

"Should we trust these women?" Siobhan asked, turning first to Seamus and then to Alistair, a question in her expression.

"If we pick right, they will take us where we need to be, to find..." Alistair frowned, feeling a weight settle on his tongue as he was unable to finish. The lack of a name to put to their goal unsettled him, he felt like this was a person he should be able to put a name to.

"And we can always refuse to go with them if we can't work it out, right?" Dylan added a moment later.

 _No, no, no!_

 _Once you ask, there is no going back!_

 _You must guess, you must follow!_

 _No matter what, you must go down our track!_

"Well, what do you-" Seamus began, but was quickly cut off by Dylan.

"Let's just try it, how far astray can we go? We don't even know where we're going."

 _Good, now ask us a question._

 _One question. One question each._

 _Three of us liars, One of us not._

 _And to you, our intentions we'll teach._

"Seamus, you first."

"Okay, which one of you is going to lead us the right way?"

 _I will._

 _I will._

 _I will._

 _I will._

"Great work Paddy, you wasted our first question!"

"How the fuck was I supposed to know they'd answer like that?"

"Never mind, it's Siobhan's turn now."

Siobhan cleared her throat, looking down at the four women who were gazing dreamily back, "Each give me the number of one of your company who is leading us in the wrong direction."

"Wait, isn't that just going to end up like the last one?"

"If the three liars must lie then they cannot give away any of their fellow liars, or else they will be telling the truth. Therefore, the three liars have to give the name of the one who is telling the truth, who in turn will give away a single liar."

The three men looked at her with amazed grins, Seamus letting out a slight laugh, "That's way better than my plan."

Siobhan snorted out a laugh, making Seamus smile at her strangely, "You were on the right track, you just asked the wrong question."

"Go on," Prompted Dylan, looking at the four of them, "Tell us, we don't need your four questions."

 _Four is lying._

 _One deceives._

 _One is a trickster._

 _One will not let you leave._

Siobhan let out a laugh of triumph, turning and hugging Seamus tightly, whose neck turned a faint red all the way up to his ears at the action. She let go of him and smiled at him for a moment, perhaps a moment too long, before turning to wrap Alistair in a hug as well. Seamus rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly, making Alistair raise a brow at him that only earned him a v-sign and a scowl.

As Siobhan let go of Alistair to hug Dylan, Alistair leaned over to the red-head, "Don't worry, I'm sure you two are together when you have your memories, and you're not a creepy weirdo."

He narrowed his eyes, "That's reassuring, thank you."

Alistair chuckled, "Glad to help."

"Let's get going," Dylan prompted, taking hold of Alistair's hand again, and leading them toward the first woman, "We pick you, show us the way."

The woman smiled.

 _Follow me._

* * *

 _When they found themselves at the edge of the forest in question, they instantly felt a deep sense of dread settle over them. "This is_ an adhmaid an caillte _," the queen said, gesturing toward the trees which stretched either side of them for further than they could see._

 _"The wood of the lost?" Ireland asked, grimacing._

 _The queen nodded, "Indeed, it was some of your fae, Seamus, that helped make it."_

 _He grimaced again, "Great. I don't suppose that means I'll be immune to its effects, does it?"_

 _The queen chuckled, but shook her head, "I'm afraid not." She looked at them all for a long moment, regarding them with a blank expression, "Once inside you will forget yourself. You will forget time, you will forget space, you will forget there was ever a world outside that forest. If you intend to try to save our dear Arthur, then you run the risk of not returning."_

 _Scotland bit his lip, frowning deeply, "You guys don't need to come with me, you know?"_

 _Wales sighed out a laugh, "Yes, we do," he said, putting a hand on Scotland's shoulder, "Who else would keep you from killing yourself in there?"_

 _Scotland raised an eyebrow, "You don't trust me?"_

 _"Not as far as Ireland could throw you."_

 _"Oh, fuck off Wales!"_

 _North walked up beside him and took his hand, "We do this together, okay?"_

 _"God knows you need our help," Ireland added a moment after._

 _Wales breathed out a faint laugh, walking back to Gwlanog, and reaching up to stroke gently down her nose, "You be good now, and wait for us here," the dragon made a sort of sad and defeated noise in the back of its throat. Wales smiled a little sadly, leaning down and pressing his lips gently to the creature's nose, "I'll be back in no time, I promise."_

 _Another whine, and Wales petted her gently one more time, "When have I ever lied to you?"_

 _Gwlanog lifted her head and nuzzled him, a final whine leaving her throat, as Wales chuckled sadly, "Exactly. We'll fly to Norway to meet your friend afterwards, okay?"_

 _She huffed out a sound that seemed to say, 'well okay then', making Wales laugh one more time and pat her head gently, "There's my girl."_

 _He turned away from her and walked back to his siblings, "Ready to go?"_

 _Scotland nodded, taking Wales' hand as Ireland took North's free one, "Whatever you do, don't let go of each other."_

 _The remaining three nodded, "Let's go save that fucking insufferable princess."_

 _"Good luck, my sweets."_

 _And then they stepped into the forest._

* * *

They stepped into a clearing.

Inside there was nothing but a man, lying on his back and staring at the sky, and Alistair had a strange sense that they'd found who they were looking for. The man sat up, his blonde hair stuck up in all directions, and looked at the group with an expression of relief so palpable that it made its way onto Alistair's face too.

"You came," he breathed, his mouth twisting up into a smile, and Alistair found himself smiling too. The man stood, walking forward until he met Alistair in between them, he didn't realize he'd been walking until the man's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, and his face tucked snugly into his neck, "I've waited so long." Alistair felt a strange strangling sensation in his chest, and when the man let go of him minutely, cupped his face, and leaned in to kiss him, he returned the kiss without a hint of hesitation.

"So you two know each other?"

The man broke the kiss and looked at Dylan strangely, as if that was a peculiar thing to ask, "Of course we-" and then he stopped himself, a realization coming over him, and he turned back to Alistair, "Do you know my name?"

Alistair shook his head, "I don't know your name, or who you are, but I feel like I know you... somehow."

The man smiled, "You walked all the way through that forest unprotected to come and get me," he breathed in slight disbelief, "You reckless fuckhead," he laughed, shaking his head, and brushing his hands over Alistair's cheeks tenderly.

And then the man kissed him again, and he may not have known who the guy was, but with the way his heart beat out a soft and gentle rhythm of familiarity he was sure he was in love with him. When the kiss broke, he decided to ask, just in case, "Am I in love with you?"

The man smiled, covering his mouth to contain his chuckle, "That's what you've told me on several occasions, yes."

Then Alistair decided to ask something else, "Are you in love with me?"

The man dropped his hand, leaning his head forward to lean on Alistair's shoulder, "More so now than five minutes ago, I can tell you."

"How long have you been here?" Siobhan asked, making the man turn his head to look at her, trying his best to do so without removing himself from Alistair's person.

"Too long," he replied, "When I last spoke to you it had been a week, now it's repeated more times than I cared to count."

"What can we call you?" Seamus posed a few moments later.

The man pursed his lips for a moment, "Arthur..." he seemed to decide, and something about that name seemed right, but also wrong, as if it weren't his true name but one that he had picked for himself. He took a deep breath, pushing himself away from Alistair with an air of reluctance, and taking his hand instead, "We should go. I don't want to be here any longer."

The other three nodded, and they all reached out to the pair, once again joining hands.

And stepped back into the forest.

* * *

 **TBC... Probably... Maybe... IDK...**


End file.
